Oct 23, 2016

Changes in my practice at the end of the Mindlab journey

32 weeks down and the final assignment!

My Mindlab journey has been enjoyable in
places and quite rocky in others. My main focus for taking this on was I had
seen first hand with a colleague at school what some of it was about as I was
her ‘go to’ person for all the ICT support she needed to get through it. I
supported her understanding of the technologies that were being swiftly
introduced and trying to implement them in her classroom. For her it was
inspiring and encouraging to watch her start to implement technology in the
classroom with a new found understanding and interest. For her, the first
intake of Mindlab was successful. I was encouraged by my boss to take it on for
the ‘paper’ that it offered. I was skeptical as I did point out that I clearly
didn't need a ‘paper’ to prove my skills in technology as they had employed me
without a paper as the eLearning Director in the school. However, take it on I
did.

Osterman & Kotkamp (1993) stated that “awareness
is essential for behavioral change. To gain a new level of insight into
personal behavior, the reflective practitioner assumes a dual stance, being, on
one hand, the actor in a drama and, on the other hand, the critic who sits in
the audience watching and analyzing the entire performance.” (p.2)

In a lot of respects I think Mindlab has grown
too fast and too quickly to cope with the myriad of students at different
levels requiring different interactions with the staff. There are a lot of
issues that have arisen this intake rather than the previous one; according to
continued conversations with my colleague who had already done it. However,
some positives did arise.

For the most part the collaboration and new
found friendships I have built from the Mindlab experience are by far the best
positives. I am keen and hopeful that the friendships I have built over the 32
weeks will continue and thrive. I did enjoy being a support to other
Mindlabbers particularly in the technology area, however this also put added
pressures on me during assignments and being a full-time teacher – very hard to
keep up the momentum of keeping on top of teacher requirements and Mindlab
requirements.

I was disappointed that the one aspect of
Mindlab that I was most keen to do was scooted over very swiftly – blink and
you’d miss it. Week 3 was my week…except it wasn’t. I was most excited to learn
the ‘how to’ of Aurasma. However all I got was what I already knew, not a ‘how
to’ at all. Disappointing. Week 6 was an enlightening week. Understanding and
delving into different leadership styles was interesting and quite eye opening
too. It never hurts to understand different styles and ways of working. It
indicated to me my leadership style and the one I was aspiring to be. This
improved my practice in the way I utilised my time as an ICT facilitator in the
school – always a bonus when positive change occurs. “A facilitative transformational leadership style
also encouraged frequent reflective dialogues. This supports the general idea
that transformational school leaders can create a learning organization and can
stimulate teachers to innovate and take risks” (Bryk et al., 1999)

The experience of using a
varying model of learning; traditional verses online, was suitable for this
purpose and enjoyable on my part. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekly sessions
catching up with my fellow Mindlab Madge’s at the Mindlab. I also relished the
online reflective section as this is an area I am very comfortable with and
have engaged in for many many years. However, I do know that this was a large
stress to some Mindlabbers and doesn't suit everyone – enter me the supporter,
the teacher and the lead workshopper that supported and taught a number of
students so they could achieve this section of the paper. As Osterman &
Kotkamp quoted (1993) “In the reflective practice model, the learner’s role is
far more active: “The practitioner becomes a researcher. . . and engages in a
continuing process of self-education” (Schon, 1983, p. 299). In doing so, the
learner assumes a central position, and the model of instructor as expert gives
way to that of the instructor as facilitator.” (p. 15)

The biggest change in my practice has
surprisingly come from the most difficult and taxing part of my Mindlab journey
– the dreaded Literature Review. This was the hardest and most stressful aspect
for me personally as I hate writing formally and always had trouble with it
since my school days moving into College. However, I did enjoy understanding
how Mindset and Mindfulness are interlinked and can be utilised in the
classroom, so following the Lit Review and entering into the Teacher Inquiry
segment I found myself planning a programme for testing the effectiveness of
this learning. I think having colleagues on board who are as excited as me to
implement my programme at the beginning of next year is thrilling and
energising. Implementing a programme of Mindfulness, Growth Mindset and
understanding the brain fits perfectly with the Ministry’s Practising Teacher criteria
in a number of areas:

Criterion 2: Demonstrate commitment to
promoting the well-being of ākonga.

Criterion 4: Demonstrate commitment to ongoing
professional learning and development of professional personal practice.

Criterion 8: Demonstrate in practice their
knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn.

Criterion 9: Respond effectively to the
diverse and cultural experiences and the varied strengths, interests, and
needs of individuals and groups of ākonga.

It’s only October and heavily into report
writing but I am already excited about the year ahead and really putting my
teeth into Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset and seeing if as Dweck states (2012)
that "In a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their
intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. Their goal becomes to look
smart all the time and never look dumb. In a growth mindset students understand
that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching
and persistence. They believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it”
(p.2)

While I went through many mindsets/attitudes and behaviour changes during my Mindlab journey - I can at least say thank heavens I have come out the otherside a better Educator and a better person.

My new focus for professional development
will be to find out what is required for the next paper so that I can use this
Post Graduate paper towards another achievement. Is it achievable while in
full-time employment? Hopefully it won’t be quite as full on as this paper and
that it is doable. I am both relieved and pleased I have survived the
experience and come out with some very pleasing grades [some of the best of my
career] the elation of completion is like nothing else.

4 comments:

Cheesy...Huge "Congratulations" on your epic voyage completion! I can hear the cork popping from West Auckland!!

As you mention we all entered the course at our own personal levels of competence and experience and it would seem, based on weeks of reading the G+ billboard, that overall, we have all made significant progress relative to our initial entry level competence, and very possibly this is due in most part to the grueling nature of the workload and relentless assignment schedule. Nothing like desperation to get one connecting with others equally or more desperate and to push the brain to some new athletic heights!! Brain growth without a doubt.

You have raised some valid points regarding parts of the course that did not allow us to take more time in areas that really interested us or for people like yourself who were techno proficient going in,to take ones skill to a deeper level. It was all very fast and intense and not at all what I had expected, but on some levels surpassed what I had expected.

The interaction with the Madge team was a highlight and the weekly coffee and face-to-face sharing and venting made the whole experience so much more achievable and enjoyable.Thank you for the blog session that allowed me get up and go on the online papers Cheesy, your help and "just in time" assistance, even at midnight, was invaluable...part of that life-raft I mention.

Hey there CheesyUK! I really enjoyed reading your blog. I am right there with you on many points. I have just come off the back of completing 2 years of a TESSOL Cert, still have another 2 years to go (4 papers), but I decided I really needed a break... Enter MindLab! So I have too ensued a year of OMG and some big learning steps as well. I too have really enjoyed learning more about growth mindset and have been rabbiting on to my students since term 1 about self management, yet after doing work around mindset have reclassified my harping on to my year 3/4 kids to changing their mindsets. (Had one student that struggled to log on to the computer, and needed support EVERY day - super frustrating). I am very proud to be finishing this paper, I know that my practice has grown, I know my students have benefited. I've also dragged my team along for the ride, their students have experienced what mine have. I guess I'm lucky that my team are all willing and although they didn't do any assignments I'll share this success with them, as they too own it.